Ascension : Press Release - Appointment of New Chief Secretary
Submitted by The Islander (Ascension Island Government) 09.10.2008 (Article Archived on 23.10.2008)

The new Chief Secretary has signed a three-year contract with the St Helena Government.

The new Chief Secretary has signed a three-year contract with the St Helena Government.

Andrew Wells is the successful candidate and he will take up post at the end of October 2008. He will be joined by his wife Shanling and daughter Elizabeth Anne who will enrol at Prince Andrew School. 

Once on Island, the new Chief Secretary will oversee the Sustainable Development Plan and lead the process of change within the public sector. He will work closely with Heads of Department and will assist with the development of strategic policy goals.

Speaking about his appointment, the Chief Secretary said “Moving to St Helena has been a private ambition of mine since the 1980’s. I am deeply honoured to have been selected for the post of Chief Secretary at this critical time for the Saints.” He added “I intend to learn before I lead. For both me and my family, this is a dream come true.”

Governor Gurr is equally pleased and said that Andrew will bring to SHG a range of international experience in senior management. 

Andrew was born in England where he studied at Kings College Cambridge. He then moved to the Middle East and India. Following this, he worked for many years in the Senior Directorate of the Hong Kong Government. Here, he was responsible for regulating the major electricity utilities and he was founder director of Hong Kong’s Open University. As District Officer and Justice of the Peace for Kwai Tsing, he was responsible for the administration of one of the world’s largest container terminals. In addition, Andrew has worked on taxation issues and negotiations over Hong Kong’s new airport. Andrew served for many years as Hong Kong’s first Deputy Secretary for Housing and in his final posting reported directly to Hong Kong’s Chief Executive during a period of constitutional reform.

On retiring from the Hong Kong Government, he moved into the private sector and specialised in tourism and property development.

Outside of the office, Andrew is a keen writer and he has contributed a regular column on political and constitutional issues to the South China Morning Post

Public Relations/Information Office

Office of the Chief Secretary

7 October 2008